Credit Line: Gift of U.S. Teague 1976. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Violet Teague took pride in this portrait. It was her most highly priced work, although it never sold and was eventually presented to the National Gallery by her family in 1976. There is an air of commanding self-confidence in Teague's portrayal of her 12-year-old subject. The colours of his palette echo those in the painting and suggest a direct connection between the boy and the execution of the portrait - that is, the invention of his own destiny.